The Global Travel Entrepreneur Challenge is a competition for millennials and young professionals that have an interest in building and operating their own successful travel startup. Young entrepreneurs and students between the ages of 18 and 35 are encouraged to join GTEC 2016 from August 29 to November 15.

“As part of our focus on human capital development and the young tourism professional, GTEC is the perfect platform for PATA to help empower today’s youth and support young entrepreneurs in the travel industry,” said PATA CEO Dr. Mario Hardy. “The competition not only provides funds to five winners to help grow their sustainable travel companies but also, importantly, gives all participants practical hands-on experience in creating a travel business.”

As part of the competition, participants will form teams of 1-5 members and create travel tours on Triip.me’s global travel platform. They run that business at every stage from marketing and promotions to optimisation and operations. Winners will submit a business report to compete for the final prizes.

The Grand Prize winner wins a trip of a lifetime to the Seychelles, including free round trip flight and two nights accommodation to attend the Seychelles Ocean Festival (December 3-10), where they will receive their award.

Hai Ho, CEO of Triip.me, said, “GTEC 2016 is designed as a pragmatic launching base for young millennials to experience challenges via travelling and entrepreneurship. To me, the two most blissful and exciting ventures in life are travel and starting your own business at a young age. Through GTEC, you can do both and also do so with full support from experienced entrepreneurs. Join GTEC 2016 to turn your dream into reality.”

David Wong, CEO of FWD Hong Kong & Macau, said, “We recognise the importance of nurturing the young generation and motivating them to pursue their goals. As a challenger brand in the insurance market, FWD aspires to empower these future leaders to live to the fullest and broaden their horizons by working and travelling in one go. FWD values innovation and is keen to develop creative thinking of young talent. We feel excited about GTEC 2016 and we can’t wait to mentor the winners.”

Alain St.Ange, Minister of Tourism & Culture for the Seychelles, added, “I am thrilled by the perfect opportunity GTEC 2016 provides to support young entrepreneurs interested in the travel and tourism industry. This is exactly the kind of collaboration I had in mind when I had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Hardy at the PATA Summit 2016 in Guam. To witness GTEC coming together so soon in partnership with Triip and the other organisations as well as the organisers of our own Seychelles Ocean Festival is nothing less than a perfect win-win situation for all concerned.”

Participant benefits:

Build a thriving tour business from scratch

Learn vital skills to be an entrepreneur: leadership, public speaking, problem-solving and marketing

Meet and greet international customers

Get practical hands-on feedback from top entrepreneurs in the region

Get a chance to showcase your city’s hidden charm to an international audience

About PATA
Founded in 1951, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is a not-for profit association that is internationally acclaimed for acting as a catalyst for the responsible development of travel and tourism to, from and within the Asia Pacific region. The Association provides aligned advocacy, insightful research and innovative events to its member organisations, comprising 95 government, state and city tourism bodies, 27 international airlines, airports and cruise lines, 68 educational institutions, and hundreds of travel industry companies in Asia Pacific and beyond. Thousands of travel professionals belong to the 40 local PATA chapters worldwide. The chapters organise travel industry training and business development events. Their grassroots activism underpins PATA’s membership of the Global Travel Association Coalition (GTAC), which includes ACI, CLIA, IATA, ICAO, WEF, UNWTO and the WTTC. The PATAmPOWER platform delivers unrivalled data, forecasts and insights from the PATA Strategic Intelligence Centre to members’ desktops and mobile devices anywhere in the world. PATA’s Head Office has been in Bangkok since 1998. The Association also has official offices or representation in Beijing, Sydney and London.

About Triip:
Founded in 2013, Triip is a travel platform dedicated to bringing together local experts and travelers to create genuine and unique cultural experiences. Triip enables local individuals to become Triip Creators, allowing them to create their own tour packages to share their passion with others, earn extra cash and make new friends – while also offering independent travelers one-of-a-kind local cultural experiences with real people. Through the Triip website and mobile app, independent tour guides can post their tour package, which is then available for travelers from around the world to discover, book, enjoy, and review. To learn more, please visit http://www.triip.me.

About Gobi Partners:
Founded in 2002, Gobi Partners is a leading venture capital firm with an investment focus on early-stage, digital media, IT and TMT companies. Headquartered in Shanghai, Gobi has six offices across China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. The firm has raised seven funds to date, and has invested in over 130 portfolio companies across China and ASEAN.

Gobi’s dynamic team of veteran investors and professional managers works closely with portfolio companies, providing hands-on counsel and a wide range of value-added services to help them achieve sustainable growth and stay ahead of the curve. Well-tuned to the pulse of the industry, Gobi’s investments include dozens of successful and rapidly emerging companies such as Camera360, CIB (acq. by Asiasoft, TB:AS), Cloudwise, CSDN.net, DeClout (SGX:5UZ), DMG (acq. by VisionChina, NASDAQ:VISN), Eko Communications, Hermo, Line0, Madhouse (acq. by BlueFocus, SZ:300058), MainSpring, Opzoon (acq. by Harbin Gong Da High-Tech, SH:600701), PICOOC, Stardrobe, Tuniu (NASDAQ:TOUR) and Yoyi Digital. For more information, please visit http://www.gobivc.com.

About FWD Hong Kong & Macau
FWD spans Hong Kong & Macau, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam. In Hong Kong, FWD offers life and medical insurance, general insurance, employee benefits, pension, and financial planning. The life insurance and general insurance operating entities have been assigned strong financial strength ratings by international rating agencies — FWD Life Insurance Company (Bermuda) Limited is rated “A3” by Moody’s and “A” by Fitch; and FWD General Insurance Company Limited is rated “A” by Fitch.

FWD is focused on creating fresh customer experiences, with easy-to-understand products, supported by leading digital technologies. Through this customer-led approach, FWD will achieve its vision to become the leading pan-Asian insurer that changes the way people feel about insurance.

Established in Asia in 2013, FWD is the insurance business arm of investment group, Pacific Century Group.

About Seychelles:Seychelles – the untouched island nation since the dawn of time. Located off the coast of East Africa in the Indian Ocean, there are two main regions in Seychelles: the Outer Seychelles and the Inner Seychelles. Seychelles is one of the few places on Earth where nature is pristine and sustainable tourism has been the major source of income; it is also the only place in the world where you can swim with Shark Whale. Seychelles earned its honor to be Prince William’s honeymoon destination in April, 2011.